By R.A. R. A bit of magic has been put to work by the fire com- panies of this area! ® eo © The magic—not in a little black box, as might be ex- pected — comes in a small grey box no bigger than a bread box and is called Plec- tron. : : ®e oo o : Plectron, used by both Mt. Jop and Florin as part of a growing system, is an alert- ing device which can call firemen at their homes or rev up a whining siren which would call up an entire com- pany of men and alert the community. ®e oO o For Fire Zone 7, the mag- ic box is located in the home of John Henry Lutz, where the radio base station is sit- uated. eo © o The thing about Plectron which is different is that by simply pushing a black but- ton on the console of the con- trol box, a - radio circuit snaps to attention a similar box either in the homes of firemen and/or at the fire company headquarters. ® © © As directed, that signal will turn on the siren or will simply alert firemen who have privately-owned Plec- tron boxes in their homes or at their places of work. ® © © By electronic magic, the press of the black button sets up a tone system. After a normal tone pattern is es- tablished, there then is a sudden change of tone—eith- er up or down to a deter- mined pitch. That change ac- tivates the receivers and the siren blows. ® © $ By using a second button, the siren can be held silent and only receivers in the homes of members of that company alert firemen. The latter system is used fre- quently when there is a work detail needed — a lost child, for instance. ® © @ Presently Mount Joy, Florin and three others in Zone 7 are part of the sys- tem. Others are expected. Cost—the master box, about $300. Firemen’s privately owned receivers, $125. ® oo o What will be the road number of Mount Joy’s Main street after the new express- way bypass is finally com- pleted and given the full light? e © a Actually, no one knows at this point. As recently as Monday, the state highway department does not know and no one knows when there will be a decision. ® © ® The matter has been ex- plored by the study units of the highway departments and a recommendation has been placed in the hands of the highest official. ® oO ® - The department had hoped to have a local hearing be- fore now but as of this week, no date has been set. However, a spokesman for the department said that there will be a time set after the matter clears top officials ® © ® . The new roadway, present- ly is open but is not “signed” There are no traffic markers or informational indications to help motorists. Local people and those who travel by “following ‘itheir noses’, however, are (Turn to page 5) sop iu 2 J + = = Oy err Cd po % THE | % MOUNT JOY w Mount Joy's ONLY Newspaper — Devoted to the Best Interest and Welfare of Mount Joy VOL. 69. NO. 40 MOUNT JOY, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 1970 TEN CENTS INVITATION TO ENTER PARADE An invitation to partici- pate in the 1970 Mount Joy parade on Memorial Day — May 30 — has been issued by George Nauman, chair- man. At the March meeting of the Community Council, held Wednesday night, March 4, at the fire house, he said that all organizations of the community are invited to put parade pieces in the line of march and emphasized that they should carry out the traditional theme of Memor- ial Day. Those planning such en- tries — floats, marching un- its or other units should con- tact the chairman or one of his co-workers — James Gingrich, Martin Brown, Robert Hoffmaster or Andy Reymer. - Plans for the parade, Nau- man reported, are shaping up nicely. Already six bands have been signed and it is expected that there will be others signing as additional arrangements are completed. Also, the chairman said that 48 other units are set to (Turn to page 5) SAME BOOK Two Greiners It was bound to happen! One day recently Pat Greiner, 16-year-old Donegal school junior, was issued a French text book for use this semester. The boy sitting in the seat behind her also received a French book. He looked inside the cover and there was the nome of “Bruce Greiner.” Punching his classmate in the back, he querried, ‘Hey, Pat, look at this name! “Who is this?” Sure enough, it was Pat's father who had used the ex- act same book. The date — 1932. . The ‘boy and girl ex- changed books and now Pat is studying French from the same book used by her father 38 years ago! That was quite a yarn the daughter had to tell her par- ents; Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Greiner, Park avenue, that night. Iscontinue Blowing Code FRIENDSHIP WILL SOUND SIREN FOR ALARM ONLY At the regular meeting of Friendship Fire company #1 on Thursday, March 5, it was decided to discontinue the siren alarm code. The company has decided that the code does nothing to benefit the active fighters. Men must go to the fire house to get the exact location. The new alarm will be one long blow followed by a series of four short blows. This series of four short blows is more effective to al-. ert the firtmen. This new system will go into effect Saturday. March 14. In the recent months 14 active firemen have purchas- ed Plectron radio receivers. These receivers cost the fire- men, out of their own pock- ets, $150 to $180 each. The Plectron is used to activate the siren by a certain tone. The firemen also hear this tone in their homes followed by a voice message telling location of the fire. If any active fireman would like to have a Plectron he should contact Chief Frank Good. In other business, the new truck committee presented to the company specifications for a new Custom Built At- tack Pumper. Some of the highlights of the specifica- tion are: diesel engine, 1250 gpm pump, more compart- ment space than all three pumpers presently have, hose bed for 400 feet of 1% inch, C. of C. James Roberts, Main street electric appliance dealer, has been named president of the Mount Joy Chamber of Commerce, He was named Tuesday night, March 10 by the Board of Directors following the annual banquet at Hos- tetters. He will succeed Warren Rutt, who served as master of ceremonies for the meet- ing and announced the elec- tion of five new directors— Gerald Sheetz, James Heilig, Robert Kline, Al Newlin and Joseph Shaeffer. Other officers named in- c.ude: Mack Rupart, first vice- president; Al Newlin, second vice-president; Joe Shaeffer, secretary, and Simon Nissley, treasurer. y Other directors who com- pleted the board include: Warren Rutt, Elmer Ginder, Lester Hostetter, Walter Sloan, Art Sprecher, Mack Rupart, Charles Ebeling, Mer- vin Not, James Roberts and 0. K. Snyder. Principal speaker for the Tuesday night meeting was the Hon. Jack Horner of Eli- zabethtown. Although he was slated to ‘Of This and That’ People have such interest- ing hobbies! We heard first-hand this week of the delights of skiing. It must be an almost incomparable thrill “to take off from the top of a moun- tain and “fly” on skis over feathery snow all the way to the bottom! For a number of Lancast- er County people it has be- come almost a way of life. The week end comes; they are off to a sk islope—Round Top, Meadow Valley, the Poconos, or such glamorous spots as resorts in New Hampshire or Vermont! By the rest of us, this “spring’’ that is just around the corner is eagerly await- ed. Not so. by the ski en- thusiasts. It means that the season is just about over, that they must hang up their by the editor's wife skis” and wait until ‘' next winter for another exhilar- ating outing in the snow! * * ¥ Another hobby of which we heard this week is the collecting of postcards. A local man has 40,000 of them gathered together over a period of many years. The new mayor, Henry Zerphey, collects stuffed animals—not the ‘“plushy” kind, of childhood days, but the skins and hides of real, live animals, ‘‘stuffed” and mounted with the taxider- mist’s art. He displays his collection proudly in the den at his home. * #* % Probably the most inter- esting event of the past week was the almost-total eclipse (Turn to page 4) Elects speak on some aspect of pol- lution, he switched his talk to a current issue of state government and told his Mt. Joy constituents something about the matter of taxation. His comments, growing out of the recent burning ques- tion concerning the taxation of insurance premiums, re- vealed some of the pressures and frustrations which sur- round the workings of the state budget and the efforts to balance it. Horner said that not dur- ing his six years in the Gen- eral Assembly has there been anything like what has been going on in Harrisburg. He labeled the current fis- cal situation the ‘greatest debacle of the century in Harrisburg.” The recent ‘“‘oneman, one vote” judicial ruling has shifted power from rural areas to the big cities, he pointed out and indicated that the difficulties are ruled by politics. The fact the leg- islature is not in the hands of either party causes the problem, he said. Pennsylvania has had a wave of ‘government by con- frontation,” the Elizabeth- town attorney said. The trend started with the school tea- chers, he added, and has spread to many other groups. New on the politital scene, it is a “fist in the face” ap- proach to government. Revenue is not a matter insurance tax or income he said and mentioned of tax” (Turn to page 5) Leisure Club Holds Meeting The Mount Joy Leisure Club held its regular meet- ing at the Sports Farm, Mon- day afternoon, March 9, with 59 members present. Three new members join- ed: Mrs. Lillian Miller, Mr. Norman Heisey, and Mr. George Reigle. A covered dish meal will be held at the April meeting. A committee was named for the Leisure Club float to be entered in the Memoral Day parade. At close of meeting songs were sung and cards and bingo was played. 2,000 feet of 3 inch and 200 feet of 21% inch hose plus many more modern items. These specifications were approved and will be mailed out to several companies for competitive bids. Bids must be returned by April 27, '70. Final decision, it is expected, will be made at the May meeting. . This apparatus will cost approximately $42,000. The company has $20,000 in its new truck fund and is con- tinuing its efforts to raise the balance. In the continuing effort to improve the fire company operations, it was decided to remove the coats, boots and helmets from the ’49 La- France. This equipment will be placed on a rack at the rear of the engine room and assigned to the more active firemen who will be respon- sible for this equipment. Friendship is one of the few remaining companies that maintain equipment on the pumper. But for the present, equipment will remain on the 49 Dodge and the 41 LaFrance. The company is always looking for. young men, 18 or over, who would like to be active firemen. If there are those who are interested in joining, the company holds drills every Monday at 7 p m. Its meetings are the first Thursday of every month. Science Fair Set For Fri. and Sat. The Donegal Junior-Senior high school Science Fair will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday even- ings, March 13 - 14 at the high school. There will be approximately 330 exhibits. Judges will be Harold Royer {from Elizabethtown schools, Mrs. Grace Stein- metz from IIempfield and William Madigan from Peg- uea Valley. There will be trophies for winners in the 7th. 8th and ninth grades in junior high school, and for Biology, Physics and Chem- istry divisions in high school, with a grand championship trophy in both junior and senior high school. Parents and the public are invited to attend. Presbyterians Call New Pastor The Rev. Stehman Getty has been called to become pastor of the Mount Joy Pres- byterian church. ; Following a guest appear- ance Sunday morning, Mar. 8, in the local pulpit, the congregation voted unani- mously to extend him an in- vitation. He is to begin his ministry here Sunday, April 12, filling the pulpit which has been vacant since early in 1968. During the interim, the Rev. Herbert Moyer of Lancaster has served as stated suppiy minister. The Rev. Getty, Mrs. Getty and their small daughter, live at Linden, Pa. (near Williamsport), where he has been pastor for the past three years.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers